Of all the disingenuous, far-fetched tactics used by anti-abortion advocates, the idea of fetal personhood is one of the most insidious. The attempt to give embryos and fetuses the same rights as people is nothing new, but Republican lawmakers have really been hitting the angle hard in recent years. Of the many anti-choice bills we saw last year, Republicans in a few states tried to give “right to life” protections to embryos and fetuses, making abortion a felony since technically that would then be considered murder.

Not only is this strategy totally absurd, but it’s also impractical. How do these Republicans expect to implement a fetal personhood law consistently? Obviously, they never did. All they cared about was policing the bodies of pregnant people. If they actually cared about the “person” inside that pregnant person, they would have to think about a whole lot of other elements. They would have to enforce child support and social services starting at the moment of conception. They’d have to release pregnant people from prison and jail because that fetus’s incarceration is unconstitutional.

Most people will be receiving a $1200 check, with an extra $500 per dependent. If Republicans really believe a fetus or an embryo is a person, it sure seems like pregnant people should be able to claim those extra dollars, no? Especially since those same Republicans are exploiting the current pandemic to make it even harder for people to access abortion services.

Obviously, this wouldn’t work. Again, the “pro-life” movement doesn’t actually care about life or living people. They just want to force people to give birth without having to offer any support to parents or children before or after that. Still, calling out anti-choice hypocrisy is a form of self-care. (Or at least self-preservation.)

Filed Under:

Follow The Mary Sue:

Vivian Kane (she/her) has a lot of opinions about a lot of things. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri with her husband Brock Wilbur and too many cats.